Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Both pictures were submitted to "Black & White Wednesday", an event created by Susan at "The Well-Seasoned Cook". It will be hosted on the 6th of June by Sihi at "A Wandering Ladle" (click here in order to see who is hosting the next roundup).

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Both pictures were submitted to "Black & White Wednesday", an event created by Susan at "The Well-Seasoned Cook". It will be hosted on the 30th of May by Sra at "When My Soup Came Alive" (click here in order to see who is hosting the next roundup).

Friday, May 11, 2012

The sky was dark and gloomy, the air was damp and raw,
the streets were wet and sloppy. The smoke hung sluggishly above the
chimney-tops as if it lacked the courage to rise, and the rain came
slowly and doggedly down, as if it had not even the spirit to pour.- Charles Dickens

At the moment, despite a few hours of semi-summery weather here and there, more or less all we get is rain, wind and grey clouds. It seems as though Mother Nature is somewhat upset and wants to punish us for some obscure deed by serving us a rotten spring and making our mood sink to the lowest of lows. There's no respite from the animosity and hostility with which she has decided to strike us. She acts like a bitter woman who's been cheated on and who has decided to take revenge on that unfaithful lover of hers...

Repetitivety and boredom is what rocks my present existence, and it is getting extremely grueling to rarely see the sun shine or admire puffy white cumuluses. Uniformly gloomy skies above my head sap my vitality and kill my enthusiasm. Like a vampire, obscurity drains me of my life force and glamorizes/bewitches me to a point where I lose all motivation and become a walking zombie.

Lack of light in May is just so depressing and uninspiring, especially when you are desperately waiting for the warmer season to kick off with a blast, fill your heart with dreams and your head with bountiful thoughts. Unfortunately, this is far from happening right now. The heavens above are as desperately desertic as my mind and look as if they've been invaded by maleficially vile creatures hailing from the Netherworld. Nothing is here to water my arid imagination and make it fertile again. Instead, I am stuck in a limbonic neverland and sitting in oblivion's waiting room scrutinising the horizon in search of a spark of ingeniosity.

I meant to do my work today

But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,

And a butterfly flitted across the field,

And all the leaves were calling me.

And the wind went sighing over the land,

Tossing the grasses to and fro,

And a rainbow held out its shining hand--

So what could I do but laugh and go?

- "I Meant to Do My Work Today" by
Richard Le Gallienne

I have no other choice than to bear my misfortunes patiently and turn things to my advantage. Yes, why not relax purposely until "genius" comes out of its hiding place and makes its grand comeback? In any case, there is no law that forces you to be prolific all the time. Being decently loafy isn't a crime. As a matter of fact, everybody should learn to let go of things and to slow down as berserker moduses lead to a lot of misery and grim endings (health complications, stress, burnout and even sometimes death).

Busy bees forget to live and to enjoy themselves. They know no peace and are always productive no matter the costs, thus endangering their mental and physical well-being. Nobody can give endlessly without experiencing the negative side effects of his/her limitless zealousness.

Far from idleness being the root of all evil, it is rather the only true good.

- Soren Kierkegaard

I learned...that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it
kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and
all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little
chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.

- Brenda Ueland

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the
grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the
water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a
waste of time.- John Lubbock

Efficacious action is good, but frantic and directionless enterprises as well as initiative for the sake of initiative are fruitless and destructive. It is a waste of energy. Better be constructively passive than to be gyrating in all directions without aim and be frenziedly industrious.

In our materialistic society which is oriented towards wealth and profit, indolence is looked upon unfavorably and the church with its centuries of moral oppression based on terror has well contributed to the way it is perceived. Religion, conformists and workaholics say it is a serious sin to be "unoccupied" as they consider this state of grace to be a waste of precious time and the work of the devil. In one word, those who aren't constently slaving are evildoers or/and losers. Well, I refuse to listen to them or feel guilty for my lascivious procrastinating as I believe that each of us needs to let his/her mind wander freely through the lush fields of inertia in order for our brain to breathe fresh air and our spirit to fly high so as to reach contemplative elevation and be one with the Universe.

What is this life, if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare,

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care

We have no time to stand and stare.

-
"Leisure" by W.H. Davies

Life does not agree with philosophy: there is no happiness that is not
idleness, and only what is useless is pleasurable.

- Anton Chekhov

It is so revitalising to break away from the mad
routine by allowing ourselves to put our feet up every now and then, and so gratifying to simply exist and enjoy the present instant without constantly projecting ourselves in the intangible future. Leisurely laziness is pure bliss and a free luxury. This happiness is available immediately and "requires no work to earn, no mastery to attain, no
wealth to purchase, no distance to travel" (quote by Rev. Samuel A. Trumbore), no goal to reach, no effort to furnish or final product to deliver. One is only required to delight in
nothing in particular and take pleasure in what is happening now. An intoxicating sensation!

In fact, it is a form of meditation. The act of creating an inner void and resting our body and soul fuels our creativity as true inspiration comes during periods of idleness. So, if ever you are feeling drained and your idea bank is empty, don't panick. A vacation or timeout is definitely the answer to your problems...

So on that note, I want to inform you that this is exactly what I'm going to do next week. Six months without holidays has had its toll on me and I cannot continue speeding forward like a steam train that is out of control or else I'll go bananas. Hence, I am taking a short break (not from surfing the web, though - I am too addicted to visiting your lovely blogs LOL) and, after a brief blogging intermission, I will be back on the 23rd of May.

In the meanwhile, I'll leave you with a recipe which illustrates this article perfectly. Those "Shortcut Cinnamon & Tahinomelo Smørhorns" are fast to prepare and require minumum effort to put together. Compared to the traditional Norwegian yeast-based butterhorns, this cinnamony treat is dedicated to faineant bakers who want to whip up something mighty scrumptious without having to spend hours in the kitchen or sacrificing taste for simplicity.

With its Mediterranean twist, this moist and tender scone/biscuit-like pastry is quite addictive and I can assure you that your smørhorns will disappear as rapidly as they arrived on the table. Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The last picture was submitted to "Black & White Wednesday", an event created by Susan at "The Well-Seasoned Cook". It will be hosted on the 16th of May by Simona at "Briciole" (click here in order to see who is hosting the next roundup).

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The last picture was submitted to "Black & White Wednesday", an event created by Susan at "The Well-Seasoned Cook". It will be hosted on the 9th of May by Siri at "Cooking With Siri" (click here in order to see who is hosting the next roundup).